Best Data Removal Services (2026): What Independent Tests Found, Plus the Free Options

How we reviewed this: this is a research-based review. We did not buy or test the product ourselves. We checked the official website, policies and independent customer feedback, and every fact below links to its source. Facts checked 2026-11-01. How we review · Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you.

Quick answer: the best data removal services

Data removal services send opt-out requests to data brokers and people-search sites (the sites that list your address, phone number and relatives) and keep re-checking because your info tends to come back. Most “best data removal” lists are paid per sign-up, so we built this one on independent evidence: a Consumer Reports test with 32 volunteers (August 2024), a peer-reviewed academic study with 71 users (PoPETs, 2025), and PCMag’s hands-on reviews (June 2026).

Best for removing the most: Optery (free plan; paid from $39/yr). Removed the most profiles in Consumer Reports’ test (68% after four months, on its $249/yr Ultimate plan), and a PCMag Editors’ Choice.
Best value: EasyOptOuts ($19.99/yr). Nearly matched Optery in Consumer Reports’ test (65%) for a fraction of the price, with a 150-day refund window.
Best hands-off, automated: Incogni ($95.88/yr). Highest removal rate in the 2025 academic study (76.6%, as reported by the service) and a PCMag Editors’ Choice; covers 420+ brokers.
Best for human help: DeleteMe ($129/yr). Includes 40 custom removal requests a year handled by privacy advisors, but removed only 27% of profiles in Consumer Reports’ test.

Read this first: no service removed everything. In Consumer Reports’ test, the services together removed only 35% of profiles after four months, and every volunteer still appeared on some people-search sites. Doing the opt-outs yourself removed about 70% within a week. Removal doesn’t touch public records, and your info can come back. If you live in California, the state’s free DROP tool now sends one deletion request to 650+ registered brokers. See the free options before you pay.

Comparison: price and what the tests found

Service	Price, 1 person (Nov 1, 2026)	Consumer Reports 2024 (removed at 4 months)	PoPETs 2025 study	PCMag (June 2026)
Optery	Free plan; $39 / $149 / $249 per yr	68% (Ultimate)	Fastest removals; 30% of matches wrong	4.5, Editors’ Choice
EasyOptOuts	$19.99/yr	65%	Not tested	Not rated
Incogni	$95.88/yr ($15.98/mo)	Not tested	76.6% (highest, service-reported)	4.5, Editors’ Choice
DeleteMe	$129/yr	27%	Not tested	3.5
Privacy Bee	About $8 to $67/mo (billed yearly)	Not tested	Not tested	5.0, Editors’ Choice
Aura	From $12/mo (bundle with ID theft protection)	Not tested	Not tested	3.5
Kanary	$250/yr	34%	23.4% (lowest)	Not rated

Consumer Reports tested 7 services on 13 people-search sites over four months; it says results aren’t statistically significant. The PoPETs study tested 4 services for 30 days and counted what each service reported as removed, not independently confirmed deletions. PCMag discloses it may earn affiliate commissions. Wirecutter (also affiliate-funded) picked DeleteMe as its top choice and EasyOptOuts as its budget pick in June 2025; we couldn’t load its current version.

Best for removing the most: Optery

Optery had the best four-month result in Consumer Reports’ test, removing 68% of profiles on its Ultimate plan, and PCMag named it an Editors’ Choice for “precise, verifiable data removal.” It’s also the only service here with a real free plan: a free exposure report plus self-service removal tools, no card needed. Paid plans run $39/yr (Core, 380+ sites), $149/yr (Extended, 555+) and $249/yr (Ultimate, 625+ automated and unlimited custom removals), with removal reports that include before-and-after screenshots on the higher plans.

The catches: the plan Consumer Reports tested costs $249 a year. The academic study found an average 29.9% of the records Optery matched weren’t the participant’s, and PCMag notes it “doesn’t distinguish removed data from never-found data.” Optery disputes Consumer Reports’ method. It has a 30-day money-back guarantee, an A- BBB rating (accredited) and a 4.1 Trustpilot score from 234 reviews.

See Optery’s plans →

Best value: EasyOptOuts

At $19.99 a year, EasyOptOuts was the surprise of Consumer Reports’ test: it removed 59% of profiles in the first week (the best early result) and 65% after four months, close behind a $249 plan. It’s fully automated, covers “the 200+ most visible data brokers and people-search sites,” and rescans every four months. Its terms promise “a full refund within 150 days of signing up” if you’re not happy.

The catches: it covers fewer sites than the big names, offers no custom removal requests or human help that we could find, and it’s a tiny company (“independent and self-funded by two regular people”) with no BBB rating yet. Trustpilot: 4.6 from 94 reviews.

See EasyOptOuts →

Best hands-off service: Incogni

Incogni is the most automated option: it sends removal requests to 420+ brokers (a claim Deloitte checked for Incogni in 2025, in a review Incogni paid for) and repeats them every 60 to 90 days, with monthly reports and a live dashboard. In the 2025 PoPETs study it had the highest removal success of the four services tested (76.6%, with 72.2% done within 32 hours), and PCMag made it an Editors’ Choice. Standard costs $95.88 a year or $15.98 month to month; Unlimited, which adds custom removals, is $179.88 a year.

The catches: Consumer Reports never tested Incogni, the study’s success rate is what Incogni reported rather than independently confirmed, and the researchers couldn’t check accuracy because Incogni doesn’t show the records it matched. It’s part of the Surfshark and Nord Security group, has a BBB A+ but isn’t accredited (23 complaints in three years), and its 30-day money-back guarantee covers one refund only, not renewals. Trustpilot: 4.3 from 3,077 reviews. Compare it head to head in our DeleteMe vs Incogni comparison.

See Incogni’s plans →

Best for human help: DeleteMe

DeleteMe is the long-running name, from Boston-based Abine. It’s the one to pick if you want people involved: privacy advisors plus automation, and 40 custom removal requests a year included (60 on Premium), with privacy reports every three months. Wirecutter named it its top pick in June 2025. Its company record is strong: a BBB A+, accredited, with just 7 complaints in three years.

The catches: in Consumer Reports’ test DeleteMe removed only 27% of profiles after four months, behind Optery, EasyOptOuts and others, and PCMag rates it 3.5. It costs $129 a year with no monthly plan. Its site lists 969 brokers, but by our count only about 91 are included in the Standard plan. Refunds are full until your first privacy report, then pro-rated.

See DeleteMe’s plans →

Others we looked at

Privacy Bee (about $8 to $67 a month, billed yearly): PCMag’s top rating (5.0) for the most comprehensive removal, with 1,319 brokers on its Pro and Signature plans and unlimited custom removals. Not in either independent test, and exact prices only show at signup.
Aura (from $12/mo): data removal comes bundled with identity theft protection, which helps families. PCMag rates it 3.5. Aura disclosed a breach of nearly 900,000 records in March 2026 (names, emails, addresses and phone numbers from a marketing list; it says no SSNs or passwords).
Norton Privacy Monitor Assistant ($109.99/yr): Norton’s pages give two different coverage numbers (200+ and 2,000+ sites). Its sister service ReputationDefender removed just 6% in Consumer Reports’ test.
Kanary ($250/yr): lowest in both independent tests (34% and 23.4%). We’d skip it.
Mozilla Monitor Plus: shut down December 17, 2025, after reports tied its removal partner Onerep’s CEO to people-search sites.

The free options: try these first

Do it yourself: the FTC says you can search each people-search site for your name, use its opt-out link, and “periodically check the people search sites.” In Consumer Reports’ test, manual opt-outs removed about 70% of profiles within a week (Optery points out the testers were experienced).
California’s DROP (free, California residents): one request to all 650+ registered data brokers to delete your data and stop selling it. Brokers began processing requests August 1, 2026, and must check DROP at least every 45 days. It doesn’t cover public records or data you gave a broker directly.
Google “Results about you” (free): alerts you when Google Search shows your phone, home address or email and lets you request removal from search results. Google notes this “doesn’t mean that the info is gone from the internet.”
Optery’s free plan: a free exposure report showing which sites list you, with self-service removal tools.

The FTC also warns that opting out “doesn’t delete your information from public records” and your info “could re-appear.” A paid service mainly saves you time and keeps re-checking for you.

How to choose a data removal service

Check what it reports: the FTC suggests asking whether a service tells you which sites it opted you out of and how often it re-scans.
Don’t judge by broker counts: in the academic study, bigger broker lists didn’t mean more removals, and only 41% of the records services found actually belonged to the user.
Use the refund window: EasyOptOuts gives 150 days, Optery, Incogni and Privacy Bee 30 days, DeleteMe until your first report.
Watch auto-renewal: most plans renew yearly, and Incogni’s refund doesn’t apply to renewals.

The fine print: company records

Company	BBB	Trustpilot	Issues we found
Optery	A-, accredited (4 complaints in 3 yrs)	4.1 (234 reviews)	Disputes Consumer Reports’ method; says a broker misused customer emails in 2025
EasyOptOuts	Not rated (no complaints)	4.6 (94 reviews)	None found
Incogni (Surfshark/Nord group)	A+, not accredited (23 complaints)	4.3 (3,077 reviews)	No lawsuit or FTC action verified
DeleteMe (Abine)	A+, accredited (7 complaints)	3.5 (265 reviews)	None found
Aura	A+, accredited (196 complaints)	4.3 (1,352 reviews)	Breach of ~900,000 records disclosed March 2026
Norton (Gen Digital)	A+, accredited (892 complaints)	4.7 (all Norton products)	FTC order against sister brand Avast (2024) over selling browsing data

FAQ

What is the best data removal service in 2026?

It depends on what you want. Optery removed the most profiles in Consumer Reports’ test (68% after four months) and has a free plan; EasyOptOuts nearly matched it for $19.99 a year; Incogni led a 2025 academic study (76.6%, service-reported) and is the most hands-off.

Do data removal services actually work?

Partly. In Consumer Reports’ test the services removed 35% of profiles after four months on average, and no volunteer disappeared completely. Doing it yourself removed about 70% within a week. Services mainly save time and keep re-checking as your info reappears.

Is DeleteMe worth it?

If you value human help and custom requests, maybe: DeleteMe includes 40 custom removals a year and has a strong BBB record. But it removed only 27% of profiles in Consumer Reports’ test and costs $129 a year, more than options that tested better.

Is Incogni legit?

Yes. It’s a real service from the Surfshark and Nord Security group, a PCMag Editors’ Choice, and it had the highest removal rate in the 2025 PoPETs study (as reported by the service). It wasn’t in Consumer Reports’ test, and its BBB A+ profile isn’t accredited.

How can I remove my personal information from the internet for free?

Opt out of people-search sites yourself using each site’s opt-out link (the FTC explains how), use Google’s free “Results about you” tool to remove search results, use Optery’s free exposure report, and if you live in California, file one free request through DROP.

What is California DROP?

A free state tool from the California Privacy Protection Agency that sends one deletion request to all 650+ registered data brokers. It’s for California residents; brokers began processing requests August 1, 2026.

Can data brokers put my information back?

Yes. The FTC says your info “could re-appear,” for example when public records change, and opting out doesn’t delete public records. That’s why services re-scan every few months.

What’s the cheapest data removal service that works?

EasyOptOuts at $19.99 a year removed 65% of profiles in Consumer Reports’ test, second only to a $249 plan, and offers a 150-day refund.